Just built up an old Trek 2100 frame. It has internal brake cable routing along the top tube, rather than cable stops there like my other bikes. Hence the rear brake cable housing snakes from the lever, thorough the top tube, then out to the rear brake without any cable stops along its run.
The rear brake function is very mushy. I'm thinking this is due to the long cable housing run without stops. I have had the exact same wheels, brakes (105) and levers (sora) on a bike with cable stops and it worked fine.
By mushy I mean to say that the power generated by squeezing the lever doesn't seem to be crisply applied to the rear brake. In my mind I wonder if the long "unsupported" cable and housing run is allowing enough minute flex over its' distance to cause this.
Just built up an old Trek 2100 frame. It has internal brake cable routing along the top tube, rather than cable stops there like my other bikes. Hence the rear brake cable housing snakes from the lever, thorough the top tube, then out to the rear brake without any cable stops along its run.
The rear brake function is very mushy. I'm thinking this is due to the long cable housing run without stops. I have had the exact same wheels, brakes (105) and levers (sora) on a bike with cable stops and it worked fine.
By mushy I mean to say that the power generated by squeezing the lever doesn't seem to be crisply applied to the rear brake. In my mind I wonder if the long "unsupported" cable and housing run is allowing enough minute flex over its' distance to cause this.
Shouldn't be a problem. All my bikes use continuous housing from lever to caliber. I would suggest you replace your brake housing with modern teflon lined housing. And lightly oil the inner cable. See: cgi.ebay.comeBayISAPI.dllOpen ↗
Just built up an old Trek 2100 frame. It has internal brake cable routing along the top tube, rather than cable stops there like my other bikes. Hence the rear brake cable housing snakes from the lever, thorough the top tube, then out to the rear brake without any cable stops along its run.
The rear brake function is very mushy. I'm thinking this is due to the long cable housing run without stops. I have had the exact same wheels, brakes (105) and levers (sora) on a bike with cable stops and it worked fine.
Are you sure that the housing on that cable is brake housing? Some der housings have a big enough ID that a brake cable will fit through, but using them for a brake will produce exactly the result you describe. I think I'd grab some fresh, good-quality brake housing at the lbs and redo that run.
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Just built up an old Trek 2100 frame. It has internal brake cable routing along the top tube, rather than cable stops there like my other bikes. Hence the rear brake cable housing snakes from the lever, thorough the top tube, then out to the rear brake without any cable stops along its run.
The rear brake function is very mushy. I'm thinking this is due to the long cable housing run without stops. I have had the exact same wheels, brakes (105) and levers (sora) on a bike with cable stops and it worked fine.
By mushy I mean to say that the power generated by squeezing the lever doesn't seem to be crisply applied to the rear brake. In my mind I wonder if the long "unsupported" cable and housing run is allowing enough minute flex over its' distance to cause this.
Try a thicker cable and outer (as others have suggested) but if this doesn't solve the problem you may have to live with it - long cable housings do tend to degrade the feel of a brake due to friction and housing compression, which is why most bikes use them as little as possible.
